Apocalypse World echoes with the din of bloody battle, the roar of monstrous engines, the screams of those dying in agony and despair: a discordant cacophony of pain, suffering, and the end of hope and life.
And sometimes, if you listen closely, you might hear something worse.
Introducing The Whisper
This is the second of the Doomed Trinity playbooks I’m doing up for my Patreon. It’s basically a ghost, inspired by the old Maelstrom Ghost playbook and experiences in some of the AW campaigns I’ve participated in. This one has a Dissolution Countdown that’s slowly ticking down to its doom.
Here are some sample moves:
“Do you hear what I hear?”: When you open your brain you also get this: s-harm, close, area, loud, centered on you. You are immune to this effect, but any other player characters affected gain +1forward the next time they open their brains.
Signs and portents: With appropriate sacrifice [you choose] from a supplicant you may act as a psychic antenna for augury. The other character will make the roll, but you mark experience regardless of their success.
Also, the Whisper has no hard stat!
It’s a ghost, incorporeal and disembodied… but it can still make its mark.
More to come.
Listen closely…
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/fUpTnqCLvqwjqugj5hn_uKHohDNsM_8PU-5Y-Qw7arQukGaPckuGKgPYBeq2ybDOdnorm3df1ysPm6uTH2z7ewdGIph_NmyfOJc=s0
I’m brainstorming ideas for what a ghost in Apocalypse World would be susceptible to… cuz it’s hard to kill a ghost with bullets.
So far I have (these are things that can do actual Harm to the Whisper):
Silver, sunlight, solitude, electricity, children’s laughter…
I think I’d like nine in total. The player picks one and the MC picks one when the Whisper is created.
Very cool
Things that might hurt a ghost or make them vulnerable:
1 Vacuum, the recently deceased
2 a given type of gem or crystal
3 an important item from their life
4 absolute darkness
5 the first breaths of a newborn
6 a piece of stone, wood, or soil from their grave
7 their name
8 the embrace of a living family member
9 the item that killed them
10 running water
11 coil of copper wire
12 their darkest secret
13 their most joyous memory